The Lost Ones
by Tabis the Tabby
Summary: Max and the flock are off. Searching for clues, they come across FFALP, an orginization of hybrids who are determined to protect the world from Itex. Shaky trust forms between the groups, as they try to find common ground and save the world. [after MR3]
1. First

Heya everyone! I finished reading the 3rd book, well, the day it came out. That was how interesting it was! Just a warning! If you haven't read the 3rd you might want to be careful. There are plenty of spoilers here. So just incase you get confused or anything.

Maximum Ride and all associated characters & plots (c) James Patterson

Original Characters & plot (c) Tabis the Tabby

This is my first Max. Ride fanfiction, hope its good. The first chapter is pretty dul, so bare with me.

* * *

When I was told the Erasers were dead, I was shocked. Relieved, of course. I mean these guys might've had souls or whatever, but they were also bloodthirsty, evil and yeah, _ocassionaly_ tried to kill us. So I wasn't exactly tearing up or burning with rage when I found that out. But what did get my blood churning was when I found out that the different Itex bases around the world had killed their recombinants - people like my flock and I - then I started getting a little pissed. I mean who did these people think they were? Messing around with lives like that, the lives of little kids? But I don't want to go into that now, sometimes I can get a little too riled up about this. But trust me, you would be too if you were in my situation. And let me just say, I'm glad you aren't.

But enough about that, after two years my flock and I have finally found out our original "purpose" and also why the Erasers were hunting us. I'll try and break it down for you as quickly and easily as I can. A huge scientific company called Itex has been trying out DNA recombination with humans and animals. Yeah, that sounds amazing but its not. No, these scientists weren't interested in the fact that the experiments they created were human. No, they ran tests, tortured and then eventually killed off all of the hybrids. They lived in filthy conditions - dog crates if you will - that even good ol' Lassie - back from a roll in the mud - wouldn't put a paw in. Apparently they were trying to create some sort of...superhuman. Someone who was faster, smarter and stronger and perfect in everyway shape or form. Of course from their point of view, perfect means being devoid of emotions, feeling - a soul. But we'll get to that later. My family and I weren't born in a lab, no, we came from real human parents who - for some reason or another - gave us up to the evil, sickest and most despicable humans on the planet. For fourteen years I stayed in that Lab, until I was finally broken out along with the five members of my family, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman and Angel. Now they want us dead, they don't need us now that they've created their "perfect" being. The one who's ass I kicked from hear to Uranus and back.

You understand now? Its horrible, I know, but you need to know. Don't stop reading because what I'm saying is VERY important and you're life could depend on it. I know this is gonna be weird, but you have to trust me. Not only me, but all of us, my whole flock. You've probably heard of us by now, we're famous, you know? The kids with wings. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that didn't I?

The reason we're being hunted.

We are 98 human and 2 bird.

Yeah, trust me, I _know._

But back to the present. Now that you know all you need to know just sit back and enjoy the flight. Basically we're flying at a pretty leisurely pace away from Arizona. Everyone was quiet, even Nudge who was usually a nonstop talker. She's one of those people who you can say "hi" to and start a whole conversation, with you contributiing about on or two words. But I suppose we're getting over the things we've learned this year. We finally understand everything, but now we need to find out what to do about it. Because, as I've been told numerous time, I'm apparently the savior of the world. Yeah, you heard me. And would you believe it was ouija board that first old me? But I've come to accept it, I probably would've tried to save the world without knowing. I'm still not quite sure about this "destiny" thing that Jeb keeps mentioning. If I'm gonna do this, I'm doing it of my own freewill. I told my stuff I wasn't going to be anyone's rat anymore. I wasn't going to jump through anymore hoops.

"Max, were are we going? I mean this is great, its great to be out relaxing. But do you have a plan? I'm so worried. Those kids, we just left all of them there. One of them could be hurt or killed, just because we told them to come. Is there someway we can find out what happened? Should we go back and check it out?" Nudge had swooped down next to me, her light brown feathers brushing mine lightly. She looked at me seriously, worried but not scared. The Nudge I knew now was so different from the one i knew before. She'd grown up so much, almost too quickly and I partially blamed myself for that. She'd changed from paranoic and nervous kid to a strong and determined teenager. It was weird.

"Hmm, we're not going back to one of those places anytime soon." I said firmly, and everyone turned there eyes to be, relief evident in their eyes. "But, you're right, we do need to find out and we need to thank them too." I turned to Fang and nodded slightly. He blinked at me then turned his head to look forward again. He might not have given an indication, but I know he'd do it if he hadn't done it at Dr. Martinez - I mean Mom's - already. Things between Fang and I had been...weird, for lack of a better word. The kissing, the fighting, the splitting up and then the grand reunion were we exchanged vows of staying together. Wow, we sound like an old dating couple who have been through thick and thin together. Oh god, I don't even want to think about that.

"You'll have to think about it sometime." Angel commented lightly. I glared at the younger girl who giggled lightly and sped up. Angel, is the most adorable, sweetest and nicest little girl you'll ever meet. At seven years old she is wise beyond her years, and she has to be to survive all she's been through. After we'd been kidnapped from the lab and enjoyed a peaceful living for a time the scientists were able to steal Angel. They conducted horrible tests and beat her up pretty bad, the reason? She can read minds, and her power has also spread to mind _control_ - over multiple people mind you. Lets see your little sister do that.

"Hey!" Nudge said suddenly. "Look down, we're flying over some huge city. I bet they'll be some sort of cyber cafe there! You know the ones where you plug in you're laptop? And we can get some food too! Awww man, what I wouldn't give for some ---."

"Alright!" I said before she could continue. Yeah, she may have grown up, but she could still talk just as much. Fang pointed out a good landing spot and together my flock and I made our descent.

* * *

"I told you." 

Cat-like light green eyes stared at the young woman sitting next to her. They were in a small room filled with tv screens, all of them currently turned off. The young woman was smiling her arms crossed on the desk, chin resting on them. She was pretty enough, with dark brown hair, pale skin and misty blue eyes. She was small, and delicate, cute was a good description.

Her companion was a tall male who stood next to her chair. He had one hand in his jean pocket and the other was rubbing his opposite shoulder. He had green eyes, narrow and cat-like, he didn't blink often. His hair was dark brown, and slightly tousled. The male's skin was his most outstanding feature. It was reddish brown in color, almost like one would find a clay color would be. For a moment they were silent, both lost in their own thoughts.

"Huh. I suppose." He finally said with a say, he punched the woman's shoulder lightly. A gave a small smirk and added. "You were right, Maddie. You want to send them the message?"

"Mmm-hmmm." Maddie said, turning her chair to face him. She stretched, her hands reaching for the ceiling. For any bystander, she would've looked odd. Her hands looked to big for her small body, and instead of finger nails the fingers narrowed into claw like tips, except made of flesh. "Get, Pepper, we need to locate their exact location. I bet you can't wait, can you Wave?"

Waverly raised a delicate eyebrow, the whiskers on either side of his nose twitching. "It will be interesting. But we'll need them and they'll need us."

"You aren't the least bit interested in knowing how they've survived so long?" Maddie asked, almost dissapointed.

"We've been watching them for the past three years, I think I get the idea." Waverly replied smoothly. He patted Maddie's head before elegently walking out of the room. "I'll save you some milk and cookies, if you hurry."

"Damn cat." Maddie said affectionately. She used one of her long fingers to push the on the button on the tv infront of her. A black and white picture of six kids going into _Angela's Cyber Cafe and Lounge_ showed up on the screen. "Max, Fang, Nudge, Iggy, Gazzy and Angel. I can't wait to meet all of you."

* * *

Thanks so much for reading and giving this story a chance! 


	2. Second

Maximum Ride and all associated characters & plots (c) James Patterson

Original Characters & plot (c) Tabis the Tabby

**meepisms** - thank you! i'm soooo glad you like it!

**bringme2life **- thats what i'm going for! good to know i'm not too bad!

* * *

So we've found our place, a nice little cafe called Angela's. Needless to say, Angel was quite excited when she got there, proudly proclaiming that it was _her_ cafe. Why let a little thing like an extra 'a' stop you from getting your own establishment? I'd had to keep her own a tight leash, lest she convince the poor workers that they had to take down the 'a' from the 'Angela' in all the menus and outside the store. I'm pretty sure Angela wouldn't be to happy to see that her name had been defaced by her own staff. I was carrying coffee for Fang, Nudge and I, sprites for the boys and apple juice for Angel. The food menu hear was a little lacking, so we decided we'd get something to eat on our way out of town.

"Yo." I sat the cup next to Fang who was staring intently at the screen. I handed Nudge her coffee, which she promptly gulped down despite the heat. I leaned over Fang's shoulder to look at the screen. He was checking his e-mail (yes, now he has email for more "private" messages) and it had the most peculiar message.

_Max and Flock,_

_Corner of Newbrook Avenue and Forest Street_

_Green scarf and red hat_

_5:00 - 6:00 am_

_This message will dissapear the minute you click out. So take note, and trust me. You want to be there._

_the FFALP_

"Ooookaaaaaay." I said a little weirded out as we stared at the message. For a moment I thought it was just spam, or maybe it was Itex trying to trick us again? No, they were too stupid and stubborn to do it that way. They were more of the crash, bang, full frontal attack type. They'd preffer to jump from helicopters with machine guns than luring you somewhere easy where you couldn't escape. Either way would suck, but we would probably not have been nearly killed if they hadn't insisted on using their raiding techniques. "Mmmm, everyone remember this okay. Newbrook Ave and Forest Street, five am, green scarf and red hat. Got that?"

They nodded, each of them having a peak over Fang's shoulder to see the small message. Fang clicked the "x" and the message was gone. We checked the inbox and trashcan, but the message had completely dissapeared. So weird.

"The FFALP, falp?" I said, straightening and rocking on my heels. "Sounds like some sort of group or organization, I'm gonna check it out tomorrow. If I find its valid I'll come back an--."

"Not fair!" Gasman cut me off suddenly. His blue eyes blazed angrily as he said. "Remember what happened the last few times we split up? Everytime we aren't together we end up getting into trouble. I say we ALL go to tomorrow. We promised we would all do this, no matter what."

"Yeah, Max! We need to stick together and look out for each other, thats what family does." Nudge added, nodding as she looked up at me.

"Yeah Max, no more playing hero for you." Iggy said mock sadly.

"We'll all protect eachother!" Angel said, beaming angelically at me."Because we're a family!"

I didn't expect Fang to say anything, so he didn't. He did nod though, showing that he was agreed with the rest of them. I sighed, I may have been leader but these guys were growing up. I can't just boss them around and expect them to do whatever I want. They are to smart for that and I have got to start trusting them more. All this time I've treated them like babies when I know perfectly well that they can handle their own. All of them, from Angel to Fang have shown they can survive. Damn, I'm going to get all teary if they don't stop it!

"I _did_ say that didn't I. And you guys are the best family I could wish for." I said, trying not to say anything too embarressing. "We're gonna do this together this time."

* * *

Scout stood at the corner of Newbrook and Forest, she checked her watch again. It was 4:57, not even five o' clock yet. Scout had gotten here early, being excited about meeting the famed flock. After the mass massacre of experiments all over the world, no other experiements had been able to reach them. Not to mention the whole world new about the flock. They'd been in newspapers, even caught on film and written about in blogs. It was amazing that they were all still alive, and they were just what the FFALP needed. Like the flock, they'd all grown up as lab experiments until being rescued. But their fear of being caught had led them to hid in the most convient place, an abandoned building, or so it seemed.

It was five o' nine when a barely detectable 'woosh' was heard. Scout's green eyes looked around carefully, taking in her surroundings but she saw no one. Sniffing the air carefully, she could tell a new scent had tainted the air. It smelled like bird and human, she knew it was them. Scout wondered if she ought to give them a scare or let them come to her. _They might as well be prepared_. She grinned, long canines glinting in the darkness, she turned the corner and headed down the block. Scout couldn't hear movement, and even with her enchanced hearing they might be good at being silent.

"Someone's coming." It was a girl's voice followed by a small slap of a hand covering a mouth. Scout stiffled a chuckle as she stopped before rounding the corner. Finally she regained her composure and turned the corner, clicked a button on her watch and instantly the streeet was illuminated. Street lamps had instantly gone on, revealing one totally surprised and frozen group of kids. Scout could almost feel what they were thinking, fight or flight. She'd felt it plenty of times herself.

"Relax, you're Max and the rest of the flock, right?" Not one of them made a move, the tension was still there. Scout sighed and tapped her hat and lifted her scarf. "I'm from the FFALP."

"Oh, er hi. I am Max." The blonde teenager had positioned herself infront of Gasman and Angel in a defensive half-crouch. But now she straightened and looked at Scout warily. Motioning for her flock that it was okay. The rest of them straightened, but none of them relaxed. "You are?"

"Scout Smith, Head of the Recombinant Rescue and Retrival Center of the FFALP." She grinned ruethfully as she added. "Or atleast I was, but I'm sure you know about that. I suppose you have questions before I take you to meet our leaders, Wavery and Madde."

"Recombinant Rescue and Retrival?" The tallest one, Iggy asked slowly. Max shot him a look, but he couldn't see it anyway. "What does that mean?"

Scout invited them to one of the porch stoops so that she could sit down and explain. Stiffly they followed, but this time she could tell they were more curious than interested in getting away. Scout then took off the red hat and green scarf and put them aside. Max stopped as she was about to sit and cocked her head. "You're ears..."

"Yep." Scout said with a grin. About the same place as normal ears would have been, the girl had long, floppy, red Irish Setter ears. She kept them under the hat just to see their expressions. Besides Iggy, who wasn't sure what was happening, they all looked shell-shocked. "This reaction coming from the kids that have wings."

"What's going on!" Iggy demanded, frustrated by the fact that he couldn't see. Max glanced at Scout, asking a silent question. Scout moved closer to the tall, blind boy as Max carefully guided his hand to one of her floppy ears. Iggy seemed to concentrated as he felt the texture and shape before realization dawned on him. "Your a.." He hesitated, choosing his words carefully. "..dog recombinant?"

"Yeah, its a hastle, but atleast I don't have a tail or fur growing in odd places." Scout grimaced, wrinkling her nose. If they weren't so shock, the Flock would've laughed. Instead they seemed dumbfounded, unable to comprehend what was going on. "Questions? Anyone?"

"But they said all the recombinants were dead. We went to the Itex places and they killed them all! They almost killed us, how could you escape? Unless..." Nudge trailed off, and suddenly the air tensed.

Scout narrowed her eyes slightly, wondering what the problem was. These kids were extremely nervous and sadly unable to relax. It was pretty sad. Scout was sixteen, the same age as max, but she was alot more easygoing and cheerful than the serious teen. Then again, Scout hadn't been hunted everyday of her life for the last three years had she? Scout tried to swallow the pity she felt for the six bird kids, knowing that they would not appreciate it.

"No, I'm not one of their new "perfect" recombinants." Scout said kindly. "FFALP, Freedom For All People, was founded by Wavery Borne and Maddie K, the two first recombinants to ever be rescued. A man named Jeb had been unhappy with the way the recombinants had been treated so he saved the two strongest and most intelligent. After that he left it up to them to start a safe Haven for all rescued or escaped Recombinants. Unlike you we kept our existance a secret, and because we were considered failures, Itex wasn't in any hurry to get us back as long as we stayed quiet.We have atleast 70 recombinants there now, its a small number but its the best we could do. Luckily, we have some of the best equipment in the world, with cameras and spies leaking information to us in every Itex and major city in the world."

"So thats it? You basically sat in your little hideout while others died needlessly?" Max said, her voice hollow and cold. "We've been beaten, starved and tortured for three years and you and your little secret society didn't have the guts to do anything about it? All this time you coul've let the police know, or somebody!"

"Its not like that." Scout snapped, hating that Max had a really good point. "At the time of your rescue you and your friends were considered "perfect". With above average intelligence, stamina, stregnth and the closest thing to a natural human look, we were afraid that you were in league with Itex. Once we found out that you weren't, we still couldn't have contacted you. Itex had managed to track you down many times, we couldn't risk our lives for the sake of six kids that could or couldn't be with _them_. Now of course jealousy played a tiny bit of a part. I mean you guys can at least pass for normal humans, look at me. I have _dog ears_ and -" Scout opened her mouth wide to reveal a set of deadly sharp canines. "huge canines, that won't get me anywhere. Hiding with other hybrids is the only place were I'm considered low key compared to the others."

* * *

Was I overeacting? I didn't think I was. I mean there was this whole secret society that specialized in rescueing recombinants and giving them a home where they wouldn't be chased and captured by made scientists. You'd be mad too if you knew that someone could have slipped the police a note or some bit of information to help us less fortunate souls out. And yeah, I could understand her reasoning but that didn't mean I had to like it. I'd been through too much crap my whole life to really care who she was trying to protect, my main goal was to keep my family safe and I suppose I was offended by anyone who would hide such precious information from me.

"Awww, shit." I said as soon as I thought about it. Hiding information, that sounds just like a certain someone, the _Voice_ aka Jeb as we'd learned. He'd always been pushing me about the whole 'save the world' thing and so it was obvious why he would keep something like this from me. I mean give me a place where I could live in freedom with other hybrids while finding a way to help those in need? Never being hunted, knocked out, ripped open and tortured? Nah, who needed that. Everyone knew that being on the run from mad scientists who wanted to cut your brains out was _all_ the rage.

"I can't believe it." Nudge said, her eyes wide. All the rest of the flock were also frozen in shock. Jeb who had rescued us and been like a father, the one who'd then turned into our enemy, only to then turn out to be on our side. It was way too confusing, and the fact that there were seventy free and live recombinants somewhere was one big shocker. I supposed it was pretty arrogant of us to think we were the only ones who were strong enough to escape, but come on. The recombinants we'd seen before all had flaws that would have made it impossible for them to survive on the outside world.

"Alright, we understand, bur what now?" Fang said suddenly, looking at Scout through narrowed eyes. He'd been much more talkative these days, as though trying to help me out with the whole leading thing. Lets just say it annoyed me and made me grateful at the same time. "We have to get rid of Itex, we can't just sit around doing nothing."

"We know." Scout said, standing up, her voice was serious all of a sudden. "And we have a feeling that if the five of you help, we can finally do something. Unlike you, we've all been to scared of this, we never had the feeling that we could do anything about what was happening because we were finally free. If we tried to do something, we would be caught and everyone, everything we worked toward would be destroyed. We still felt watched, as though they had given up on us, as long as we kept quiet. But the second one of us showed his face - we'd be gone."

"Hm." I said, pressing my lips together, thinking. I gave a huge sigh and said. "Alright, take me to your leader, Scout."

The dark skinned girl, nodded her head slightly, but all traces of cheerfulness had dissapeared. Perhaps I'd been to harsh? or maybe she just understood the seriousness of the situation. I looked at her and realized I hadn't asked her about her age or any of that stuff, especially since she'd been so kind before. I guess I'd been a bit unhappy finding out about the secret organization, but I could've been a little nicer. Oh well, I'd try and make it up later sometime.

Myaaaa!

Review, please? -gives out cookies-


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